Q: What’s your most important takeaway from energy sector Q4 results so far?

◉RC: There are still a number of companies yet to report. That means plenty of room for surprises between now and the end of February. As readers can see in the Portfolio discussion section, that’s when the last of our recommended companies will release their numbers and update 2020 guidance. And I want to point out again that what’s reported could trigger changes in our recommendations.

But so far, it looks like the larger and stronger US midstream companies are proving their resilience in what we’ve called a major stress test of their entire business. And that’s by far my most important takeaway this earnings season.

The biggest piece of the stress test is how shale producers’ CAPEX cutbacks will affect midstream system throughputs. And we’re not likely to see the full effect of that until at least mid-summer.